In the interest of safety and security a number of techniques have been developed to assure that a hand gun is retained in a holster until such time as the user wishes to free it for use. It is the object of such apparatus to prevent accidental dislodging of a hand gun from its holster and, sometimes, to prevent unauthorized persons from taking the gun from its owner. It is especially important in police work that unauthorized persons do not have ready access to a policeman's gun.
A simple strap, usually fabricated of leather or other suitable material, has been used to pass behind some part of a gun, usually, but not always, some part of the hand grip, to hold the gun in place in its holster. Generally, some sort of snap fastener is used to fasten the strap in place on one end and the other end is sewn or otherwise permanently fastened to the body of the holster. Such straps are easily opened and may be inadvertently opened by a careless brush of the hand, by some object carrier in the hand of the operator, or by passing too close to another person or object, any of which may disengage the snap fastener end of the strap and cause it to come open. Unfriendly persons are not readily deterred from retrieving a gun fastened into its holster in such a fashion.
More sophisticated apparatus has been used to retain a hand gun in its holster. U.S. Pat. No. 1,046,912, issued to G. M. Wanee, describes a mechanical substitute for a holster which incorporates a lock for the hand gun therein. It includes means for capturing the gun against a metal body plate and provides a mechanism for locking the gun to and for releasing the gun from the plate.
Lloyd's U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,822, teaches a pivoting bar which may be rotated into a position across the open end of a holster or folded back against an upper apron of the holster. In the first case, a hand gun is retained in the holster by the extending retaining bar. In the second case, the gun may be withdrawn from the holster, but only by first simultaneously pressing two different trigger surfaces which releases a spring latch unlocking the retaining bar and swings it out of the way of the gun. The gun may then be withdrawn from its special holster which has an open upper section to permit withdrawal of the weapon from the holster in a forward direction. Hamby's U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,811, teaches a simple latch arrangement which may be used to lock the trigger guard loop of a hand gun to its holster. It employs a safety latch to prevent accidental or unauthorized withdrawal.
Rogers' U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,639, teaches a molded plastic holster shell having a slit front opening with the open edges of the slit being urged into a closed position by means of the resiliency of the plastic material used. The closure force is adjustable by means of an adjuster screw which may be set at a predetermined position to control the closure force and thus, the withdrawal force. A pliable flap of leather or plastic is provided and located to prevent accidental actuation of the hammer mechanism of the hand gun. A similar retaining force adjusting system is shown in Kippen's U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,214.
Baldicchi's U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,469, also teaches holster apparatus which provides for locking a hand gun into the holster with a safety latch used to disengage the gun.
Doobenen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,221, teaches a trigger guard which also acts to restrict the trigger action while engaged. It has an adjustable spring tension which requires too much force for a child to release, but allows a stronger adult to do so.
Hill et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,768, teaches a "U" shaped "boot" or holster which is closed at a rear portion thereof by a "velcro" (Registered Trademark) adjustable strap. That strap provides an adjustable retention force for a "combat" type weapon, such as a 45 caliber pistol.
Sloan's U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,410, teaches a gun release mechanism which is integral with a belt which supports an essentially conventional holster. The release mechanism acts to positively lock the hand gun into the holster until the release is actuated by the operators non-gun hand from the other side of his body.
While some of the known prior art inventions teach adjustable means for retaining a hand gun in a holster, these means are adjustable only by means of hand tools except for that of Hill et al. which employs Velcro material. Other prior art inventions deal with positive locked retention of a hand gun in a holster. None of these methods or apparatus provide for either a firmly locked hand gun or a variable release force in the same mechanism which may be operated without tools.